All language subtitles for Islands of Creation (2015)

TODAY THE EARTH IS
HOME TO OVER 10 MILLION SPECIES

OF PLANTS AND ANIMALS,

LIVING IN VIRTUALLY EVERY
HABITAT IMAGINABLE...

BUT DESPITE THIS VAST DIVERSITY,

SCIENTISTS AGREE THAT
EVERY ORGANISM ON THE PLANET

SHARES A SINGLE COMMON ANCESTOR.

WHICH RAISES A COMPELLING QUESTION:

A QUESTION THAT DARWIN
HIMSELF NEVER ANSWERED.

WHERE DO SPECIES REALLY COME FROM?

HOW DOES ONE SPECIES SPLIT INTO TWO?

CHARLES DARWIN CALLED THIS
"THE MYSTERY OF MYSTERIES."

IN THE JUNGLES
OF THE SOLOMON ISLANDS,

SCIENTIST AL UY IS TRYING
TO SOLVE THIS MYSTERY.

USING TOOLS DARWIN COULD ONLY DREAM OF,

HE'S DOING SOMETHING
ONCE THOUGHT IMPOSSIBLE...

CATCHING EVOLUTION IN THE ACT
OF CREATING A NEW SPECIES.

WE ACTUALLY HAVE THE MUTATIONS

THAT CREATE THE NEW SPECIES.

BUT WHILE ON THE VERGE
OF AN AMAZING DISCOVERY,

UY'S WORK IS IN DANGER.

WITH THE SOLOMON ISLANDS
UNDER THREAT,

HE MUST GATHER THE EVIDENCE

THAT WILL PROVE THE EXISTENCE
OF A NEW SPECIES

BEFORE IT'S LOST.

THERE'S AN ANCIENT STORY

TOLD IN THE SOLOMON ISLANDS

ABOUT HOW THE WORLD CAME TO BE.

IT DESCRIBES HOW
A SERPENT SPIRIT CALLED AGUNUA

CREATED THE LAND, SEA AND SKY.

HE CREATED THE FIRST MAN
AS A BROTHER FOR HIMSELF.

AGUNUA GAVE HIM A SINGLE YAM

AND TOLD HIM TO CUT THE YAM
INTO PIECES

AND SCATTER THE PIECES
ON THE EARTH.

FROM THE PIECES OF THE YAM GREW
EVERY KIND OF PLANT AND ANIMAL,

AND THAT WAS THE BEGINNING
OF ALL LIFE ON EARTH.

FOR MILLENNIA,
CREATION STORIES LIKE THAT

WERE AT THE HEART OF MANY CULTURES,

EXPLAINING NOT ONLY THE ORIGIN OF LIFE,

BUT, IN SOME CASES, WHEN IT BEGAN.

AS RECENTLY AS THE 1800s,
MANY DEVOUT WESTERNERS

BELIEVED THE EARTH
WAS JUST 10,000 YEARS OLD...

WITH ALL LIFE
ON THE PLANET UNCHANGED

FROM THE MOMENT
OF ITS DIVINE CREATION.

THEN, IN 1859,
CAME A REVOLUTIONARY BOOK.

CHARLES DARWIN'S "ORIGIN OF SPECIES"

SUGGESTED THE EARTH WAS
MORE THAN 10,000 YEARS OLD,

AS MANY SCIENTISTS THEN BELIEVED.

BUT HE ALSO SAID THAT PLANTS
AND ANIMALS CHANGED OVER TIME

THROUGH A PROCESS HE CALLED
NATURAL SELECTION.

DARWIN WENT ON TO CLAIM
THAT ALL ORGANISMS...

EVERY LIVING THING ON EARTH...
CAME FROM ONE COMMON ANCESTOR.

HE PORTRAYED THIS BOLD IDEA
IN THE FORM OF A FAMILY TREE,

WITH EVERY PLACE THE TREE BRANCHES

SIGNIFYING THE BIRTH OF A NEW SPECIES.

MAKING SENSE
OF THE EARTH'S DIVERSITY

MEANS UNDERSTANDING WHAT HAPPENS

AT THESE BRANCHING POINTS.

TODAY SCIENTISTS CALL
THIS PROCESS "SPECIATION."

EVERYWHERE AROUND US WE SEE
THE RESULTS OF SPECIATION...

INCLUDING THE HUMAN SPECIES
EVOLVING FROM OTHER PRIMATES.

BUT EXACTLY HOW THIS DIVERSITY
OF SPECIES CAME ABOUT

REMAINS A MYSTERY.

DARWIN EXPLAINED
HOW AN EXISTING SPECIES

COULD ADAPT TO ITS ENVIRONMENT,

BUT HIS THEORY WAS STILL INCOMPLETE.

DARWIN DID THIS INCREDIBLE JOB

OF DESCRIBING HOW SPECIES
CHANGE OVER TIME,

BUT IN HIS BOOK, RIGHT,

"THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES,"

IT SORT OF LEFT A QUESTION MARK
ABOUT WHERE THOSE LINES STARTED.

THAT IS, WHERE DO SPECIES
REALLY COME FROM?

BY THE EARLY 20th CENTURY,

BIOLOGISTS BELIEVED THAT THE ANSWERS

TO HOW NEW SPECIES APPEAR

WOULD BE FOUND
IN THE SOLOMON ISLANDS...

AN ARCHIPELAGO OF ISLANDS
IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC.

IT WAS HERE IN THE LATE 1920s

THAT DR. ERNST MAYR TOOK
ONE OF THE MAJOR STEPS

TOWARD COMPLETING DARWIN'S THEORY.

ERNST MAYR IS USUALLY CONSIDERED

THE GREATEST EVOLUTIONARY
BIOLOGIST SINCE DARWIN,

AND HE'S ESPECIALLY KNOWN
IN THE 20th CENTURY

FOR HAVING ESSENTIALLY
SOLVED THE PROBLEM

OF HOW SPECIES ORIGINATE...

THE THEME OF DARWIN'S BOOK,

BUT A QUESTION THAT DARWIN
HIMSELF NEVER ANSWERED.

ERNST WAS A MEDICAL STUDENT,

BUT WHILE STUDYING MEDICINE
AT UNIVERSITY, HE ALSO GOT A PhD

STUDYING THE EXPANSION
OF A FINCH IN EUROPE.

AND THEN HE WANTED TO STUDY BIRDS.

HE HAD NEVER BEEN OUT OF EUROPE,
AND SEVERAL EUROPEAN MUSEUMS

THEN ARRANGED FOR HIM TO GO TO THE SOLOMONS.

WHAT'S INCREDIBLE
ABOUT THE SOLOMON ISLANDS

IS THAT THEY'RE REALLY
THE GALAPAGOS

THAT CHARLES DARWIN WAS LOOKING FOR.

IN THE LATE 1920s,

THE SOLOMON ISLANDS WERE KNOWN
FOR THEIR PRISTINE BEAUTY

AND EXOTIC SPECIES OF PLANTS AND ANIMALS.

HERE WAS
AN EVOLUTIONARY EXPERIMENT

MILLIONS OF YEARS IN THE MAKING.

MAYR SPENT TWO YEARS COLLECTING
HUNDREDS OF BIRD SPECIMENS

FROM ALL THE MAJOR ISLANDS.

STUDYING THEM AT THE AMERICAN
MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY,

HE DETECTED A PATTERN IN A BIRD
CALLED THE MONARCH FLYCATCHER.

MONARCH FLYCATCHERS APPEAR
THROUGHOUT THE SOLOMONS,

BUT FROM ISLAND TO ISLAND,

THE BIRDS VARY,
MOST NOTICEABLY IN COLOR.

SOME WERE CHESTNUT-COLORED
BROWN BIRDS.

OTHERS WERE COMPLETELY BLACK.

TODAY, DR. CHRIS FILARDI

OVERSEES ERNST MAYR'S FLYCATCHER
SPECIMENS FROM THE 1920s.

IT WAS THIS COLLECTION

THAT LED MAYR TO SUSPECT
THE BLACK MONARCHS

WERE TRANSFORMING
INTO A NEW SPECIES...

PUTTING HIM IN THE UNIQUE POSITION

OF WITNESSING EVOLUTION
AS IT WAS HAPPENING.

IT'S SOMETHING THAT RARELY HAPPENS

FAST ENOUGH TO BE OBSERVED.

USUALLY, THOUGH,
SPECIATION OCCURS SLOWLY

OVER HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS
OF YEARS.

WE HUMANS CANNOT OBSERVE IT
DIRECTLY.

INSTEAD WE HAVE TO
RECONSTRUCT IT...

BY FINDING DIFFERENT CASES WHICH
REPRESENT INTERMEDIATE STAGES

IN THE PROCESS OF SPECIATION.

IN THE WAKE OF DARWIN'S THEORY

THAT ORGANISMS CHANGED
OVER TIME,

ERNST MAYR DEVELOPED A CONCEPT
THAT DEFINED WHAT A SPECIES WAS.

IT WOULD COME DOWN TO A SIMPLE
THREE-LETTER WORD: SEX.

MAYR SAID A SPECIES
IS A GROUP OF POPULATIONS

THAT INTERBREED WITH EACH OTHER
BUT NOT WITH OTHER POPULATIONS.

AND SO, FOR EXAMPLE,
HUMANS CONSTITUTE A SPECIES,

BECAUSE EUROPEANS, CHINESE,
AFRICANS

AND ABORIGINAL AUSTRALIANS,
GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY,

HAVE ALWAYS INTERBRED WITH EACH OTHER.

BUT HUMANS ARE A SPECIES
DISTINCT FROM CHIMPANZEES

BECAUSE THERE'S NO RECORDED CASE
OF HUMANS INTERBREEDING

OR ATTEMPTING TO INTERBREED
WITH CHIMPANZEES.

MAYR'S DEFINITION...

CALLED THE BIOLOGICAL SPECIES
CONCEPT...

HELPED SCIENTISTS DRAW THE LINES

THAT SEPARATE ONE SPECIES
FROM ANOTHER.

BUT THE REASONS WHY
CLOSELY RELATED SPECIES

DID NOT INTERBREED REMAINED ELUSIVE.

MORE THAN A CENTURY AND A HALF
AFTER DARWIN,

BIOLOGIST AL UY IS FOLLOWING IN
HIS AND ERNST MAYR'S FOOTSTEPS...

EXPLORING THE SOLOMON ISLANDS

IN A QUEST TO DISCOVER
THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES.

IT'S A QUEST THAT BEGAN
WHEN HE WAS A BOY.

I WAS BORN IN THE PHILIPPINES

RIGHT OUTSIDE THE CAPITAL,
MANILA...

AND MOVED TO THE UNITED STATES
WHEN I WAS 13 YEARS OLD.

I'VE ALWAYS BEEN INTERESTED
IN BIODIVERSITY.

I THINK THAT'S A NATURAL CURIOSITY

THAT MOST PEOPLE HAVE, YOU KNOW,
WHY IS THE EARTH SO DIVERSE...

AND WHERE DID THAT COME FROM?

SO I THINK A VERY IMPORTANT PART
OF HUMAN NATURE

IS WE ARE ALWAYS INTERESTED
TO FIGURE OUT

WHAT IS OUR PLACE IN LIFE

AND WHAT IS OUR PLACE
IN THE GRAND SCHEME OF THINGS.

IN TRYING TO FIGURE
OUT THE GRAND SCHEME OF THINGS,

UY LOOKED TO ERNST MAYR.

ERNST MAYR INSPIRED
GENERATIONS OF SCIENTISTS

AND THE WAY SCIENTISTS THINK.

HE HELPED ME, AS A YOUNG SCIENTIST,

TRULY UNDERSTAND HOW EVOLUTION WORKS

AND TO START ADDRESSING

SOME OF THE PRESSING QUESTIONS
IN EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY.

ARMED WITH
THE BIOLOGICAL SPECIES CONCEPT,

UY IS IN THE SOLOMONS TO TEST

WHETHER TWO BIRD POPULATIONS ARE
SPLITTING INTO SEPARATE SPECIES.

HIS SUBJECT...
THE MONARCH FLYCATCHER.

WE KNOW
FROM MAYR'S DESCRIPTIONS

THAT POPULATIONS FROM DIFFERENT
ISLANDS LOOK DIFFERENT...

BUT THE QUESTION THEN IS
DOES IT MATTER TO THEM

THAT IN THE ONE ISLAND
THEY'RE BROWN-BELLIED

AND THE OTHER ISLAND THEY'RE FULLY BLACK?

AND NOW WE CAN REALLY,
AS SCIENTISTS,

COME UP WITH EXPERIMENTS AND
STUDIES THAT TEST THE PROCESS

OF HOW YOU GET THAT DIFFERENCES
BETWEEN POPULATIONS.

ARE THE BLACK MONARCH FLYCATCHERS

BECOMING A SEPARATE SPECIES
FROM THE BROWN ONES?

IF SO, WHAT'S CAUSING IT
TO HAPPEN?

ANSWERING THESE QUESTIONS
PROMISES TO BRING UY

CLOSER THAN EVER TO UNLOCKING

THE ELUSIVE SECRETS OF SPECIATION.

SCIENTISTS HAVE IDENTIFIED 96
SEPARATE SPECIES OF FLYCATCHERS

LIVING IN HABITATS
FROM SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

TO THE SOLOMON ISLANDS.

THESE SPECIES HAVE EVOLVED
FROM A SINGLE COMMON ANCESTOR

THAT LIVED MILLIONS OF YEARS AGO.

BUT NO SCIENTIST HAS WITNESSED
A POPULATION OF MONARCHS

IN THE PROCESS OF BECOMING
A NEW SPECIES...

UNTIL NOW.

SPECIATION,
OR THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES,

IS A COMPLEX PROCESS.

TO UNDERSTAND HOW NEW SPECIES ARISE,

YOU NEED DATA TO CONNECT THE DOTS.

AND THESE DATA BASICALLY
COME TOGETHER TO FORM A STORY.

AL UY'S FIRST
CHALLENGE IN THE SOLOMONS

WAS FIGURING OUT WHETHER

THE DIFFERENT-COLORED MONARCHS
HE SAW ON VARIOUS ISLANDS

WERE BECOMING DIFFERENT SPECIES.

ERNST MAYR BELIEVED
THAT GEOGRAPHICAL BARRIERS...

WATERWAYS, MOUNTAINS,
EVEN ROADS...

CAN ISOLATE POPULATIONS
OF PLANTS AND ANIMALS

FROM EACH OTHER
AND PREVENT INTERBREEDING.

OVER TIME, BEING IN ISOLATION
CAN LEAD TO ENOUGH CHANGES

THAT THE POPULATION
MAY BECOME A NEW SPECIES.

AND THERE'S NO BETTER PLACE
TO STUDY THIS PROCESS

THAN ON ISLANDS.

WHY SEND ME TO THE
SOLOMONS AT CONSIDERABLE EXPENSE,

RATHER THAN JUST HAVE ME
WATCH BIRDS

HERE IN MY BACKYARD IN LOS ANGELES?

THE REASON IS THAT
THE SAME PROCESSES OPERATE

ON ISLANDS AS ON MAINLANDS,

BUT THEY'RE MUCH CLEARER
ON ISLANDS

BECAUSE OF THOSE GEOGRAPHIC BARRIERS.

SCIENTISTS HAVE FOUND THE ISOLATION

THAT ISLAND ORGANISMS EXPERIENCE

CAN ACTUALLY DRIVE SPECIATION.

ISLANDS,
LIKE THE SOLOMON ISLANDS...

OR THE GALAPAGOS
IN DARWIN'S CASE...

REALLY DO PROVIDE
THESE KINDS OF EXAMPLES

OF SPECIATION IN ACTION.

ONE OF THE MAJOR THINGS
THAT INSPIRED DARWIN WAS,

AS A YOUNG NATURALIST ABOARD THE BEAGLE,

HE WAS SEEING THE SAME THING

THAT MAYR FOUND IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC.

HE WAS FINDING POPULATIONS THAT
ARE SIMILAR-LOOKING ENOUGH

WHERE YOU WOULD CLASSIFY THEM
AS ONE SPECIES,

BUT THERE WERE SUBTLE DIFFERENCES

WHERE YOU NOW SUSPECT

THAT THEY ARE STARTING TO BECOME
NEW SPECIES.

TO UNDERSTAND
HOW NEW SPECIES EVOLVE,

CONSIDER HOW
HUMAN LANGUAGES DEVELOP.

LATIN IS THE COMMON ANCESTOR
OF TODAY'S ROMANCE LANGUAGES...

INCLUDING SPANISH, FRENCH,
PORTUGUESE,

ITALIAN AND ROMANIAN.

WHEN THE ANCIENT ROMAN EMPIRE
SPREAD ACROSS EUROPE,

IT BROUGHT LATIN TO REGIONS

THAT WERE GEOGRAPHICALLY
AND CULTURALLY ISOLATED

FROM EACH OTHER.

OVER TIME, LATIN TRANSFORMED
INTO NEW DIALECTS

AND EVENTUALLY NEW LANGUAGES.

THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN
THE ROMANCE LANGUAGES

ARE NOTICEABLE

IN WRITTEN OR SPOKEN WORDS,

PHRASES AND GRAMMAR.

WITH THE LINGUISTIC BARRIERS
SEPARATING THEM,

PEOPLE SPEAKING THESE

DISTINCT LANGUAGES TODAY

HAVE A HARD TIME COMMUNICATING

WITH ONE ANOTHER.

LANGUAGE EVOLUTION IS ALSO
EVIDENT IN THE SOLOMON ISLANDS.

PIDGIN... SPOKEN THROUGHOUT
THE SOLOMONS...

AROSE IN THE 19th CENTURY,

WHEN AUSTRALIAN PLANTATION OWNERS

KIDNAPPED THOUSANDS OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLE

TO WORK AS LABORERS
ON THEIR PALM PLANTATIONS.

TO COMMUNICATE
WITH THEIR WORKERS...

WHO SPOKE
MANY DIFFERENT LANGUAGES...

THESE PLANTATION OWNERS
ENCOURAGED THE USE

OF SIMPLIFIED ENGLISH
MIXED WITH NATIVE WORDS.

THIS GRADUALLY TRANSFORMED

INTO THE DISTINCTIVE LANGUAGE
SPOKEN IN THE ISLANDS TODAY.

"I'M GOING
FOR A WALK IN THE FOREST"

IN ENGLISH.

IF I SAY IT IN PIDGIN,

"BAE MI GO WAKABAOT LONG BUS."

PIDGIN CLEARLY SHARES RECENT COMMON ANCESTRY

WITH ENGLISH.

BUT NOW IT'S DIFFERENT ENOUGH

THAT ENGLISH SPEAKERS
CAN'T EASILY UNDERSTAND IT.

IN ENGLISH I'LL SAY

"THIS IS MY HUSBAND."

BUT LO PIDGIN, BAE MI SAY

"HEM NA HASBAN BLO MI YA."

JUST AS SHARED LANGUAGE

ALLOWS HUMANS TO FORM BONDS
WITH EACH OTHER,

THE COLORS AND SONGS OF BIRDS

ALLOW THEM TO IDENTIFY
MEMBERS OF THEIR OWN SPECIES.

LIKE MAYR, UY SUSPECTS
THAT THE ALL-BLACK BIRDS

MAY BE TRANSITIONING INTO A NEW SPECIES,

DIFFERENT FROM THEIR
BROWN-BELLIED COUNTERPARTS.

THEY CAN'T INTERBREED

AND THEY MAINTAIN THOSE WHAT'S
CALLED "SPECIES BOUNDARIES."

THAT IS THE NET PRODUCT OR THE
ULTIMATE PRODUCT OF SPECIATION:

THAT EVEN IF YOU PUT THEM
IN THE SAME LOCATION,

THEY WILL HAVE PROBLEMS MATING

OR PRODUCING OFFSPRING
OR BABIES.

TO TEST HIS HYPOTHESIS...

AND TO CONTINUE THE WORK
THAT DARWIN AND MAYR STARTED...

UY HEADS INTO THE FOREST,

ACCOMPANIED BY A GROUP
OF ISLAND MEN

WITH WHOM HE'S FORMED A SPECIAL BOND.

FOR NOW I HAVE AT LEAST THREE GUYS

WHO I CONSIDER AS MY RIGHT,
LEFT, WHATEVER, RIGHT-HAND MEN

IN TERMS OF COLLECTING DATA.

SO THERE'S LONSDALE,

WHO FUNCTIONS BOTH
AS THE LEAD FIELD GUIDE

AND THE CAPTAIN OF OUR SMALL BOAT.

THE OTHER TWO THAT I'VE GOTTEN
TO KNOW OVER THE YEARS,

ONE IS HIS BROTHER, JAMES,
AND ANOTHER HIS COUSIN, GEORGE.

AND OVER THE PAST FEW MONTHS,
I'VE BEEN TRAINING THEM

SO THAT THEY CAN INDEPENDENTLY
COLLECT DATA FOR ME.

A LOT OF THE WORK THAT WE DO
REQUIRES, AT THE MINIMUM,

MONTHS OF OBSERVATIONS
AND MONTHS OF CATCHING BIRDS,

AND AS MUCH AS I'D LIKE TO STAY
IN THE SOLOMONS THE ENTIRE YEAR,

I CAN'T!

AND SO TRAINING THESE
TOTALLY TRUSTED FIELD GUIDES

HAS BEEN INSTRUMENTAL
IN MOVING MY WORK FORWARD.

ALSO JOINING AL IN HIS WORK

IS HIS WIFE, FLORIA MORA-KEPFER,

A BIOLOGIST SPECIALIZING
IN ENTOMOLOGY,

THE STUDY OF INSECTS.

I'VE BEEN
PARTICIPATING IN THE RESEARCH,

AND I THINK IT'S BEEN GOOD TO BE
ABLE TO COMBINE OUR EXPERTISE

IN THE SENSE THAT AL NEEDS
TO KNOW THE INSECT COMPOSITION

AND THE POTENTIAL FOOD SOURCES

FOR THE FLYCATCHERS
IN DIFFERENT ISLANDS...

BUT NOT ONLY FIGURE OUT

WHAT INSECTS ARE LOCATED
ON WHAT ISLAND,

BUT ALSO BEING ABLE TO RELATE IT

TO CERTAIN CHARACTERISTICS
OF THE FLYCATCHERS.

AL'S APPROACH TO RESEARCH

IS COLLABORATIVE
AND TEAM-ORIENTED.

THERE'S ONE.

WHILE HE HEADS
THE PROJECT IN THE FIELD,

HE ALSO BENEFITS

FROM THE EXPERIENCE
AND KNOWLEDGE OF HIS GUIDES.

THEY'VE HAD TO LEARN FROM ME

SOME OF THE TECHNIQUES
THAT WE'VE USED...

AND IN TURN, WHAT I HAVE BEEN
ABLE TO LEARN FROM THEM

IS SOME OF THE MORE BASIC
NATURAL HISTORIES

OF THE BIRDS THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT.

THEY, FOR INSTANCE, KNOW

THE BEST PLACES TO SET UP THE NETS

'CAUSE THEY KNOW THE GENERAL
BEHAVIOR OF HOW THE BIRDS FLY,

THEY KNOW WHERE THEY FEED,

AND I THINK THAT'S BEEN

A CRITICAL COMPONENT OF OUR SUCCESS.

UY'S RESEARCH
INTO SPECIMENS COLLECTED

BY MAYR AND JARED DIAMOND

LED HIM TO THE PERFECT
TEST CASE...

THE BLACK MONARCH FLYCATCHERS
OF SMALL SANTA ANA ISLAND,

JUST FOUR MILES FROM
THE BROWN-BELLIED FLYCATCHERS

ON THE LARGE ISLAND OF MAKIRA.

IT IS VERY SURPRISING TO US
THAT THEY ARE THAT DIFFERENT.

AND SO WE FOCUS ON THAT GROUP

BECAUSE WE WOULD WANT TO STUDY
A POPULATION

WHERE THEY'RE CLOSE ENOUGH

WHERE THEY MIGHT ACTUALLY COME
INTO CONTACT WITH EACH OTHER.

WERE THE COLOR
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THESE BIRDS

A SIGN THAT SPECIATION
WAS IN PROGRESS?

TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION,
UY NEEDED TO DETERMINE

WHETHER MONARCHS RECOGNIZE
OTHER BIRDS WITH THE SAME COLOR

AS MEMBERS OF THEIR OWN SPECIES.

LIKE MANY SONGBIRDS,
MONARCH MALES AND FEMALES

FIERCELY DEFEND THEIR
TERRITORIES IN THE FOREST.

INTRUDERS THAT HAVE THE SAME APPEARANCE

ARE POTENTIALLY COMPETITORS,
BOTH FOR FOOD AND FOR MATES.

SO IMAGINE A SITUATION

WHEN YOU'RE SLEEPING QUIETLY
AT NIGHT.

THINGS ARE GREAT.

AND YOU HEAR A NOISE DOWNSTAIRS.

WELL, WHAT DO YOU DO?

IF YOU WERE AN ALPHA, MACHO MALE,

CLEARLY WHAT YOU WOULD DO
IS GRAB A BASEBALL BAT

AND CHECK OUT WHAT'S GOING ON
DOWNSTAIRS...

AND IF IT TURNS OUT TO BE
AN INTRUDER, YOU WILL ATTACK.

WHAT WE'VE DONE IS MIMIC AN INTRUDER

COMING IN TO YOUR HOUSE
OR YOUR TERRITORY.

UY FOUND MONARCH TERRITORIES

AND PRESENTED THE RESIDENT BIRDS
WITH A TAXIDERMIC MOUNT...

A REPLICA... EITHER OF A BIRD
FROM THE SAME POPULATION

OR FROM ANOTHER POPULATION.

AND TO MAKE THE BIRD FEEL MORE REALISTIC,

WE WOULD ALSO HAVE TO PLAY THE SONG

THAT ACCOMPANIES THE PHYSICAL
APPEARANCE OF THE BIRD

SO THAT THE LIVING BIRD
WOULD THINK THAT THE DEAD BIRD,

THE TAXIDERMY BIRD, IS ACTUALLY ALIVE.

WHAT WE FOUND
IS THAT THEY REALLY ATTACKED

THE MOUNTS OF BIRDS THAT LOOK LIKE THEM.

SO FOR CHESTNUT BIRDS,
THEY ATTACK CHESTNUT MOUNTS.

FOR BLACK BIRDS,
THEY ATTACKED BLACK MOUNTS

TO THE POINT WHERE THEY WOULD TRY

TO TEAR UP AND PULL THE FEATHERS

AND KNOCK THE TAXIDERMY MOUNTS
DOWN TO THE GROUND.

IN THE BIRDS' FURIOUS
BATTLES WITH THEIR SIMULATED FOES,

UY SEES A TELLING PATTERN.

YES, COLOR IS IMPORTANT.

REGARDLESS OF HOW YOU INTERPRET IT,

COLOR'S AFFECTING THE WAY THEY INTERACT,

AND THEY'RE USING IT

TO RECOGNIZE MEMBERS OF THEIR OWN SPECIES.

THE NEXT INFERENCE IS THAT THIS
IS A MATE CHOICE ISSUE,

A COMPETITION FOR MATES ISSUE.

THE FLYCATCHERS
DON'T SEEM TO RECOGNIZE

DIFFERENTLY COLORED BIRDS
AS MEMBERS OF THEIR OWN SPECIES.

THEY'RE MUCH MORE LIKELY
TO ATTACK BIRDS

THAT LOOK LIKE THEMSELVES.

UY'S EXPERIMENT SUPPORTS
ERNST MAYR'S SUSPICION

THAT THE BLACK MONARCHS
OF SANTA ANA ISLAND

ARE ON THE PATH
TO BECOMING A NEW SPECIES.

BUT WHAT CAUSES THE DIFFERENT
COLORS IN THE FIRST PLACE?

AND COULD SOMETHING AS SIMPLE
AS A CHANGE IN COLOR

REALLY BE CREATING A NEW SPECIES?

AL UY WILL HAVE TO LOOK DEEPER
THAN APPEARANCES

TO FIND ANSWERS TO THOSE QUESTIONS.

FOR THE LAST EIGHT YEARS,

TRACKING THE EMERGENCE OF A NEW
MONARCH FLYCATCHER SPECIES

HAS BEEN THE FOCUS OF
AL'S RESEARCH IN THE SOLOMONS.

DURING THAT TIME, HE'S IMMERSED
HIMSELF IN THE COMMUNITIES

ON THE ISLAND OF MAKIRA
WHERE HE'S WORKING.

WHEN I CAME HERE,
ESPECIALLY THE MAKIRA PROVINCE,

I'VE HAD TO START FROM SCRATCH.

DEVELOP RELATIONSHIPS,
MEET PEOPLE,

FIND OUT WHO WE SHOULD INTERACT WITH

AND BE PART OF A COMMUNITY

RATHER THAN COMING IN AS A SCIENTIST,

GET YOUR WORK DONE AND GO HOME.

LIVING AMONG THE
PEOPLE HAS GIVEN HIM INSIGHTS

INTO A WAY OF LIFE FAR DIFFERENT
FROM SOUTH FLORIDA,

WHERE HE TEACHES
AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI.

LIFE IS VERY SIMPLE.

THERE'S NO ELECTRICITY.

COOKING IS STILL TYPICALLY DONE
USING FIREWOOD.

RUNNING WATER IS BASICALLY A PIPE

WITH SEVERAL OUTLETS COMING OUT.

THE PEOPLE CAN GET BUCKETS
AND GET WATER.

SO EVERYTHING IS STILL COLLECTED
FROM THE ENVIRONMENT

TO BUILD THEIR HOUSES.

AND SO IT'S STILL VERY MUCH DEVELOPING,

WITHOUT A LOT OF THE AMENITIES

THAT WE, UH, FORGET,
OR WE TAKE FOR GRANTED.

SOLOMON ISLANDERS HAVE
LIVED OFF THE FOREST AND THE SEA

FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS.

THEIR LIVES ARE INTIMATELY TIED

TO THE PLANTS AND ANIMALS
AROUND THEM.

BUT ONE PLANT IN PARTICULAR
TAKES PRECEDENCE.

IF YOU ARE TO LIVE AND WORK
IN THE SOLOMON ISLANDS,

YOU WOULD HAVE TO LOVE COCONUTS.

EVERYTHING IN THEIR LIFE
REVOLVES AROUND COCONUTS:

THEIR MEALS, WHAT THEY DRINK,
THINGS THAT THEY BUILD

ARE ALL BASED ON COCONUT.

EVERY SINGLE PIECE IS USED,

AND THEY REFER TO THE COCONUTS
AS BASICALLY THE TREE OF LIFE.

THE PEOPLE OF THE SOLOMON ISLANDS

HAVE VIRTUALLY EVERYTHING
THEY NEED AT THEIR FINGERTIPS.

BUT IN A GLOBAL ECONOMY,
COCONUTS AREN'T CURRENCY.

80 TO 85% OF THE PEOPLE
WITHIN THE SOLOMONS

LIVE A SUBSISTENCE-BASED
LIFESTYLE,

WHERE THEIR PRIMARY NEEDS
ARE NOT DELIVERED THROUGH CASH.

THEIR PRIMARY NEEDS ARE DELIVERED

FROM THE DIVERSITY AND RICHNESS

OF THE SYSTEMS THEY'VE STEWARDED
FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS.

BUT AS THE SOLOMON ISLANDS

BECOME LESS ISOLATED
FROM THE OUTSIDE WORLD,

THE RICHNESS AND DIVERSITY
OF THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT

IS UNDER THREAT.

AND I THINK IT'S NO EXAGGERATION
IN THE SOLOMON ISLANDS

THAT THIS DANGER IS IMMEDIATE.

LUSH RAINFOREST COVERS
MUCH OF THE REGION

OF MAKIRA PROVINCE
IN THE SOLOMON ISLANDS.

BUT INCREASINGLY SCENES
OF DEFORESTATION...

LIKE THESE IN NEW GUINEA...
ARE BECOMING COMMON.

ACROSS THE SOLOMONS' THOUSAND ISLANDS,

RAMPANT LOGGING OPERATIONS

HAVE DEVASTATED LARGE SECTIONS
OF THE RAINFOREST.

SOME ESTIMATES SUGGEST THAT
THE NATION'S TROPICAL FORESTS

COULD BE DECIMATED WITHIN A DECADE.

MEANWHILE, UNREGULATED
COMMERCIAL FISHING OPERATIONS

HAVE REDUCED FISH STOCKS
IN THE REGION,

DAMAGING MARINE HABITATS...

A CRITICAL RESOURCE THE
ISLAND PEOPLE NEED TO SURVIVE.

THE TENSION BETWEEN THOSE

SEEKING TO EXPLOIT
THE RESOURCES OF THE SOLOMONS

AND THOSE WANTING TO CONSERVE THEM

PUTS MANY COMMUNITIES IN A DILEMMA.

I THINK MOST COMMUNITIES
ARE AT THAT CROSSROADS

OF WHETHER THEY USE THEIR
RESOURCES TO ITS FULLEST EXTENT,

BUT THEN MAYBE DEPLETE IT,

OR TRY TO CONSERVE IT
SO THAT FUTURE GENERATIONS

HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY AND
THE RESOURCES THAT THEY'VE HAD.

EACH PIECE OF LAND, EACH ISLAND,
IS OWNED BY A TRIBAL COMMUNITY

IN A LEGALLY BINDING OWNERSHIP
THAT THE GOVERNMENT RECOGNIZES.

SO IN THAT WAY,
CONSERVATION BIOLOGISTS

CAN MAKE USE OF THIS KIND
OF VERY PERSONAL INTERACTIONS

YOU CAN HAVE WITH COMMUNITIES.

BUT ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THAT COIN,

CLEARLY LOGGERS AND FISHING INDUSTRIES

CAN TAKE ADVANTAGE
OF THE SAME SITUATION...

AND SO, IN THAT SENSE IT'S A RACE

BETWEEN CONSERVATION AND RESOURCE USE.

YOU KNOW, IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS,

THE SOLOMON ISLANDS WILL BE
A VERY, VERY DIFFERENT PLACE

UNLESS SOME
CONSERVATION INITIATIVES

HAVE BEEN SET IN PLACE,

AND I THINK THIS IS THE PLACE TO DO IT.

WITH THE SOLOMON
ISLANDS' NATURAL RESOURCES AT RISK,

UY'S RESEARCH TOOK ON A NEW URGENCY.

CLEAR-CUT LOGGING ON THE ISLANDS

COULD DESTROY THE HABITAT
OF THE MONARCH FLYCATCHERS

AND POSSIBLY ARREST THE
EMERGENCE OF THE NEW SPECIES.

BUT IT'S NOT JUST THE MONARCHS
THAT ARE THREATENED.

SOME 80 SPECIES OF ANIMALS
FOUND NOWHERE ELSE IN THE WORLD

COULD ALSO BE LOST
TO HABITAT DESTRUCTION.

AND WITH THEM WOULD GO THE CLUES

THAT WOULD REVEAL HOW EACH
EVOLVED ON THE ISLANDS.

UY NEEDED TO UNDERSTAND

THE LIVING DIVERSITY OF THE SOLOMON ISLANDS

WHILE HE STILL COULD.

HIS FIRST EXPERIMENTS HAD SHOWN
WHAT ERNST MAYR SUSPECTED:

THAT THE BLACK
AND THE BROWN-BELLIED MONARCHS

WERE DIVERGING
INTO TWO DISTINCT SPECIES.

THIS PUT UY CLOSER
TO UNDERSTANDING SPECIATION

IN THE MONARCHS.

BUT HE STILL HADN'T FIGURED OUT

WHAT CAUSED THE BIRDS
ON SANTA ANA TO BECOME BLACK,

WHILE FOUR MILES AWAY ON MAKIRA,
THE MONARCHS WERE BROWN.

THE NEXT STEP REALLY NOW
IS TO TRY TO UNDERSTAND

WHAT ARE THE MOLECULAR CHANGES
THAT UNDERLIE THESE DIFFERENCES.

BECAUSE TO TRULY UNDERSTAND
THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES,

WE REALLY NEED TO CONNECT
THE MOLECULAR CHANGES

WITH THE PHYSICAL CHANGES.

TO DO THAT, UY NEEDED TO LOOK

INTO THE FLYCATCHER'S GENES.

PROBLEM WAS, HE WASN'T
A GENETICIST.

I QUICKLY REALIZED THAT, ONE,

I DID NOT HAVE THE SKILL SET.

AND TWO, I NEEDED TO GET IT.

UY HAD TO MAKE A DIFFICULT DECISION.

HE CHOSE TO PUT HIS PROJECT ON HOLD

AND LEAVE THE SOLOMON ISLANDS...

RETURNING ONLY WHEN HE HAD
THE SKILLS AND THE TOOLS

TO ANSWER THE QUESTIONS

THAT HAD BROUGHT HIM THERE
IN THE FIRST PLACE.

IT MEANT HE WOULD BECOME
A STUDENT AGAIN...

WORKING IN THE LAB,

LEARNING THE GENETICS HE WOULD NEED

TO PUSH HIS RESEARCH
WITH THE FLYCATCHERS FORWARD...

ALL WHILE HOPING THE LOGGING COMPANIES

WOULD NOT INTRUDE ON THE AREAS
OF HIS RESEARCH.

AND I BASICALLY SPENT
THE NEXT COUPLE OF MONTHS

LEARNING ANYTHING
FROM WHAT EQUIPMENT TO USE

TO HOW TO ANALYZE DATA.

SO THAT I AT LEAST GOT
THE MOST BASIC TRAINING

AND EXPOSURE TO SOME
OF THE MOLECULAR GENETICS

THAT I WOULD NEED TO USE TO
ANSWER SOME OF THESE QUESTIONS.

IT WOULD BE A YEAR LATER

BEFORE AL RETURNED TO THE SOLOMONS,

EAGER TO PUT HIS NEW SKILLS
AND KNOWLEDGE TO THE TEST.

NOW HE HOPED TO FINALLY ANSWER
THE QUESTION

THAT HAD ELUDED CHARLES DARWIN
AND ERNST MAYR:

HOW NEW SPECIES ARE CREATED.

AL UY KNOWS THE OPPORTUNITY

TO DO RESEARCH IN THE SOLOMON ISLANDS

IS A PRIVILEGE...

ONE THAT HE REPAYS BY GIVING
TALKS TO ISLAND SCHOOL KIDS

IN THEIR OWN LANGUAGE.

ENGLISH?

YEAH?

OR PIDGIN?

WE ARE ON UGI ISLAND,
IN PAWA SECONDARY SCHOOL,

DOING OUR YEARLY OUTREACH

OF TALKING TO STUDENTS
ABOUT WHAT WE DO,

AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, WHY SCIENTISTS TRAVEL

ALL THE WAY FROM AMERICA
TO THE SOLOMONS.

THIS IS STILL A CULTURE THAT
BASICALLY LIVES OFF THE LAND,

AND SO TO THEM IT'S A BIG PUZZLE

WHY WE WOULD INVEST
SO MUCH MONEY AND RESOURCES

TO COME OUT HERE
AND MONITOR THESE BIRDS.

SO I THINK
IN THE MOST BASIC SENSE

IT'S A MINIMAL COURTESY,
IF YOU WILL,

THAT WE TELL THE LOCAL
COMMUNITIES WHY WE'RE HERE.

UY IS COLLECTING DATA ON THE MONARCHS

THAT ERNST MAYR COULDN'T GET
IN THE 1920s...

DATA THAT WASN'T AVAILABLE
EVEN 80 YEARS LATER,

WHEN JARED DIAMOND
CO-AUTHORED A BOOK WITH MAYR

ABOUT BIRDS IN THE SOLOMONS.

ERNST AND I TOGETHER

DEDUCED HOW DIFFERENT THEY WERE
FROM EACH OTHER.

BUT OUR EVIDENCE WAS ALL BASED
ON WHAT YOU CAN SEE IN PLUMAGE.

WE DIDN'T HAVE ANY GENETIC EVIDENCE.

IN FACT, AT THE TIME WE WROTE OUR BOOK,

THERE WAS NO GENETIC INFORMATION
WHATSOEVER

ABOUT ANY SOLOMON ISLAND BIRDS.

FOR THE FIRST TIME,
UY WAS ATTEMPTING TO LOOK

BENEATH THE MONARCH'S PLUMAGE
TO THE MOLECULAR LEVEL...

IN SEARCH OF THE GENES
THAT COULD RESULT

IN THE CREATION OF A NEW SPECIES.

BUT THERE'S A CATCH.

A MONARCH'S GENOME CONTAINS
OVER A BILLION BASE PAIRS,

THE LETTERS OF THE GENETIC CODE.

IDENTIFYING THE GENES THAT INFLUENCE COLOR

IS LIKE TRYING TO FIND A NEEDLE
IN A FIELD OF HAYSTACKS.

THE SEARCH COULD TAKE MONTHS.

STILL, UY HAD AN IDEA ABOUT WHERE TO LOOK.

A GENE CALLED MC1R CONTROLS A PROTEIN

THAT REGULATES WHICH TYPE
OF PIGMENT A CELL PRODUCES...

PHEOMELANIN, WHICH CAUSES
YELLOW AND RED COLORS,

OR EUMELANIN,
WHICH PRODUCES BROWN OR BLACK.

IN A WIDE RANGE OF ANIMALS,
A MUTATION IN THE MC1R GENE

CAN CAUSE HAIR, FEATHERS OR SKIN
TO TURN BLACK.

UY WAS ON THE VERGE OF SOLVING
THE MYSTERY OF MYSTERIES

THAT HAD PUZZLED DARWIN.

AND WHAT WE FOUND
WAS A STRIKING PATTERN.

ALL THE BIRDS SOUTHEAST IN SANTA ANA

HAVE ONE UNIQUE CHANGE IN
THE MELANOCORTIN RECEPTOR GENE

THAT PERMANENTLY ACTIVATES
THE MELANOCORTIN RECEPTOR

TO CREATE
COMPLETELY BLACK BIRDS.

THEY'RE BLACK BECAUSE THEIR MC1R
IS PERMANENTLY TURNED ON.

SO IF COLOR IS AN IMPORTANT WAY

FOR INDIVIDUALS TO RECOGNIZE
MEMBERS OF THEIR OWN SPECIES,

THAT SINGLE MUTATION,

THAT SINGLE CHANGE IN A SINGLE PROTEIN

CAN HAVE A DRAMATIC CASCADING EFFECT

SO THAT ALL OF A SUDDEN YOU HAVE
A NEW SPECIES OF BIRDS,

OR ANIMAL, ON ONE ISLAND,

BECAUSE THEY LOOK
DRAMATICALLY DIFFERENT.

SO WHAT WE HAVE SO FAR, THEN,
IS THAT WE ACTUALLY HAVE

THE MUTATIONS THAT CREATE
THE NEW SPECIES.

FOR ERNST MAYR, NEW SPECIES EMERGED

WHEN POPULATIONS OF AN ORGANISM

DEVELOPED A NUMBER OF MUTATIONS
OVER TIME

THAT KEPT THEM FROM INTERBREEDING

WITH OTHER RELATED POPULATIONS.

BUT WHAT UY FOUND
DIDN'T FIT THIS PICTURE.

THE GENETIC DIFFERENCES

IN THE BROWN MAKIRA BIRDS
AND BLACK SANTA ANA BIRDS

CENTERED ON MC1R.

ALL THEIR OTHER GENES
WERE IDENTICAL...

MEANING THAT THIS SINGLE MUTATION

WAS JUMP-STARTING THE CREATION
OF A NEW SPECIES.

BUT SANTA ANA ISN'T THE ONLY
ISLAND IN THE SOLOMONS

WITH BLACK MONARCHS.

WELL, WE STILL HAVE
ANOTHER GROUP OF BLACK BIRDS

NORTH OF MAKIRA IN THE ISLANDS
OF UGI AND THREE SISTERS.

OUR NEXT QUESTION IS

WE HAVE THE SAME PHYSICAL APPEARANCE,

THE SAME TRAIT
ACROSS DIFFERENT ISLANDS.

DID EVOLUTION FIND DIFFERENT
SOLUTIONS TO THE SAME PROBLEM?

DID THEY FIND A DIFFERENT PATHWAY

TO CREATE THESE BLACK BIRDS?

AND OF COURSE, THEY'RE ALL
IN THE SAME ISLAND GROUP.

WE HAD THOUGHT,
IT'S GOT TO BE THE SAME.

IT HAS TO BE THE SAME MUTATION
IN THE MELANOCORTIN RECEPTOR.

IN FACT, IT WASN'T.

AL DISCOVERED
THAT THE BLACK BIRDS ON UGI

DID NOT HAVE THE MC1R MUTATION

THAT HE FOUND
IN THE SANTA ANA BIRDS.

SURPRISINGLY, THE GENE
IN THE BLACK UGI BIRDS

WAS IDENTICAL TO MC1R IN
THE BROWN-BELLIED MAKIRA BIRDS.

SO WHAT MADE THE UGI BIRDS BLACK?

AL'S RESEARCH SHOWED THAT
THE BLACK MONARCHS ON UGI ISLAND

HAD A MUTATION
IN A DIFFERENT GENE...

CALLED AGOUTI... WHICH CAN ALSO
TURN ANIMALS BLACK.

THIS ISN'T THE ONLY CASE
OF SIMILAR PHYSICAL TRAITS

APPEARING FROM MUTATIONS
IN DIFFERENT GENES.

IT'S KNOWN TO HAPPEN IN HUMANS, TOO.

ONE OF THE MORE
INTRIGUING AND MEMORABLE THINGS

THAT ALMOST EVERYBODY WHO GOES
TO THE SOLOMONS ENCOUNTERS

ARE THESE INDIVIDUALS WHO'VE GOT
THIS BLEACH BLOND HAIR...

AND THERE ARE BLUE-EYED PEOPLE
THERE AS WELL.

AND YOU KNOW, THOSE BLUE EYES
ARE EURASIAN, CAUCASIAN.

THEY ARE THE LEGACY OF LONELY SAILORS

TRAVELING THROUGH THE SOLOMON ISLANDS.

AND PEOPLE HAVE OFTEN THOUGHT
THAT THAT'S, WELL,

THAT'S WHERE THAT WHITE HAIR
CAME FROM, RIGHT?

IT'S BLOND HAIR, JUST CAME
FROM THOSE SAILORS.

BUT RECENT WORK HAS SHOWN
THAT THAT'S NOT THE CASE...

THAT THAT BLOND HAIR COMES

FROM A DIFFERENT
SINGLE-POINT MUTATION

THAN THE STUFF THAT CAUSES
BLOND HAIR IN A EURASIAN PERSON.

JUST LIKE THOSE BLACK BIRDS.

AND THERE'S AN INCREDIBLE
PARALLEL THERE.

SINGLE-POINT MUTATIONS,

DIFFERENT MUTATIONS
IN DIFFERENT POPULATIONS,

TURN THOSE BIRDS JET BLACK.

SO, YOU KNOW, HUMAN EVOLUTION
AND BIRD EVOLUTION?

MAYBE NOT THAT DISSIMILAR.

THE UGI AND
SANTA ANA BIRDS LOOK IDENTICAL,

BUT DIFFERENT GENES ARE TURNING THE BIRDS

IN THESE TWO POPULATIONS BLACK.

WHICH MEANS THAT NOT ONE
BUT TWO POPULATIONS OF MONARCHS

ARE EVOLVING INTO NEW SPECIES,

SEPARATE FROM THE BIRDS
ON MAKIRA ISLAND.

UY'S DISCOVERY HAS
OPENED THE DOOR TO REVEAL

THE UNDERLYING CAUSES
OF HOW NEW SPECIES EMERGE.

AL UY'S GREAT CONTRIBUTION

HAS BEEN THAT HE HAS BEEN
ACCUMULATING GENETIC EVIDENCE

FOR ONE OF THESE TEXTBOOK CASES
OF SPECIATION IN THE SOLOMONS.

THERE ARE BLACK
MONARCH FLYCATCHERS ON UGI

AND THE BLACK MONARCH
FLYCATCHERS IN SANTA ANA.

ERNST AND I HAD NO WAY OF KNOWING

WHETHER ALL OF THOSE
BLACK MONARCH FLYCATCHERS

WERE RELATED TO EACH OTHER.

AL'S GENETIC EVIDENCE SHOWS NO,

THEY'RE NOT RELATED TO EACH OTHER.

THEY SEPARATELY EVOLVED
BLACK PLUMAGE.

THOSE SMALL NUMBER OF GENES
HAVE BIG CONSEQUENCES.

NICE BOY.
REAL NICE.

UY'S RESEARCH CONFIRMS

SOME OF WHAT SCIENTISTS THOUGHT
THEY KNEW ABOUT SPECIATION.

BUT IT ALSO SUGGESTS SOMETHING
THAT ERNST MAYR DIDN'T PREDICT:

A MUTATION IN A SINGLE GENE

CAN TRIGGER THE EVOLUTION
OF A NEW SPECIES

IF IT CAUSES A CHANGE IN MATING BEHAVIOR

AND PREVENTS ONE POPULATION
FROM INTERBREEDING WITH OTHERS.

UY'S FINDINGS WITH THE BLACK
MONARCHS ARE REMARKABLE.

BUT IT'S ONLY THE BEGINNING.

NATURAL SELECTION IS AT WORK

ON THE SMALL ISLANDS
OFF THE COAST OF MAKIRA...

TURNING THE PLUMAGE OF BROWN
MONARCH FLYCATCHERS BLACK.

AND WHAT WE'RE FINDING
IS THAT AS ISLANDS GET SMALLER,

YOU GET MORE BLACK BIRDS,

WHICH IS CONSISTENT WITH THE IDEA

THAT BLACK BIRDS DO WELL
IN SMALL ISLANDS.

BUT WHY DO THE BIRDS DO WELL?

WHAT ADVANTAGE DOES THE MUTATION
IN THE MC1R OR AGOUTI GENE

GIVE TO THE BLACK MONARCHS
ON THE SMALL ISLANDS?

THAT'S A QUESTION UY IS INVESTIGATING.

THE ANSWER WILL TAKE MORE
EXPERIMENTS AND DATA ANALYSIS

BEFORE IT WILL BE REVEALED.

IN THE MEANTIME,
UY HAS OTHER WORK TO DO

TO ENSURE THE NEW MONARCH
FLYCATCHER SPECIES

ON SANTA ANA AND UGI...

AS WELL AS OTHER SPECIES
UNIQUE TO THE SOLOMONS...

CAN SURVIVE A THREAT
LOOMING ON THE HORIZON.

THE SOLOMON ISLANDS ARE NO LONGER

THE PRISTINE,
FAR-FLUNG ARCHIPELAGO

THAT ERNST MAYR VISITED
IN THE 1920s.

LOGGING AND FISHING COMPANIES
HAVE PLUNDERED THE REGION,

ENDANGERING SPECIES
UNIQUE TO THE ISLANDS...

AND SEVERING FOR GOOD

MANY BRANCHES
OF THE ISLANDS' TREE OF LIFE.

WITNESSING THIS EXPLOITATION
HAS CHANGED AL UY'S OUTLOOK.

AS A SCIENTIST
I'VE ALWAYS FELT, YOU KNOW,

PROTECT THAT IVORY TOWER
OF ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

AND JUST BASIC SCIENCE.

BUT WHAT THE SOLOMON ISLANDS
REALLY HAS MADE ME

IS A SELF-TRAINED CONSERVATION
BIOLOGIST, IF YOU WILL.

THE THINGS WE DO OUGHT TO MATTER

TO THE COMMUNITIES THAT WE
CARRY OUT OUR PROJECTS IN.

INCREASINGLY, SCIENTISTS
WORKING IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

ARE FINDING THEIR ROLE EVOLVING
FROM RESEARCHER TO ADVOCATE.

I THINK THE ROLE OF ANYONE

WHO GOES INTO THESE COMMUNITIES

IS TO PROVIDE REALLY A SPACE
AND AN OPEN DIALOGUE

THAT SHARES A NEW PERSPECTIVE
WITH THOSE PEOPLE.

UY'S WORK ON MAKIRA

HAS EARNED HIM THE TRUST
OF JOHN AND JOYCE MURRAY,

THE PATRIARCH AND MATRIARCH
OF A VILLAGE ON THE ISLAND.

BASICALLY WHAT HAS HAPPENED

IS THEY'VE ADOPTED ME
AS THEIR OWN SON...

AND WHEN I COME, YOU KNOW,
I LIVE WITH THEM,

I EAT WITH THEM,
I DO EVERYTHING WITH THEM.

SO I THINK
THAT UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE

OF BEING PART OF THE COMMUNITY

AND REALIZING THAT THERE'S MORE
TO SCIENCE THAN JUST SCIENCE,

HAS BEEN, HANDS DOWN,

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING
THEY'VE GIVEN ME.

IN HONOR OF THEIR ADOPTED SON,

THE YOUNGEST MEMBER OF THE MURRAY FAMILY

IS NAMED AFTER AL.

AND MIRACULOUSLY, ALBERT,
LITTLE ALBERT,

WAS ALSO BORN ON MY BIRTHDAY,

SO WE NOT ONLY SHARE A NAME
BUT WE SHARE A BIRTHDAY!

FOR CENTURIES, SCIENCE
HAS BEEN SEEKING THE ANSWERS

TO THE FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS
OF LIFE...

REPLACING THOSE ONCE PROVIDED
BY MYTHS AND LEGENDS.

WHY IS IT WORTH TRYING TO FIGURE OUT

WHERE NEW SPECIES COME FROM?

THAT'S
THE MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION.

SCIENCE AND BIOLOGY IN PARTICULAR

REALLY DRIVES THE MESSAGE HOME
THAT WE ARE JUST PART

OF THIS BILLIONS OF ITERATIONS
OF NATURAL SELECTION,

THIS GRAND TAPESTRY OF LIFE.

EVOLUTION AND ECOLOGY
HAVE REALLY HELPED US UNDERSTAND

HOW LIFE IS INTERCONNECTED.

BUT THAT
INTERCONNECTEDNESS IS AT RISK.

EVERY TIME UY RETURNS TO THE SOLOMONS,

HE SEES CHANGES IN ITS GRAND TAPESTRY.

RESOURCE EXPLOITATION

IS DISRUPTING THE PROCESS
OF EVOLUTION

THAT'S BEEN OPERATING
FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS.

AND THAT EXACTS A HEAVY PRICE...

NOT ONLY IN THE LOSS
OF A SINGLE SPECIES OF BIRD,

BUT IN THE DESTRUCTION
OF THE FRAGILE BALANCE

OF THE SOLOMONS' ECOSYSTEM.

EVEN AS SCIENTISTS STRIVE TO
UNDERSTAND THE WORLD AROUND US,

THERE GROWS A DESIRE
TO EXPERIENCE A DEEP CONNECTION

TO NATURE AND ITS MYSTERIES.

I THINK BY UNDERSTANDING

THE SORT OF GENESIS OF ORGANIC DIVERSITY,

WE UNDERSTAND MORE ABOUT BEAUTY.

WE UNDERSTAND A LITTLE BIT
ABOUT THE ENGINES

THAT ARE SORT OF CONSTANTLY HUMMING

UNDERNEATH THE THINGS WE LOVE.

TRADITIONALLY
IN THE MAKIRA PROVINCE,

FOLKS USE THE TERM "FIGONA"
TO DESCRIBE SPIRIT...

BUT OVER THE YEARS,
IT HAS BECOME MORE OF A WORD

TO DESCRIBE SOMETHING
THAT IS AWE-INSPIRING.

WHEN I ENTER A RAINFOREST,
IT HAS THAT UNIQUE SMELL

THAT JUST REALLY RINGS TRUTH
IN ME, AND I SMELL IT.

IT'S THAT SMELL OF MOSS AND DECAY

THAT REALLY GIVES ME THE SENSE
OF, OF WHERE I CAME FROM.

AND WHEN YOU GET TO THIS FOREST
AND WHEN YOU SEE,

RIGHT WHEN THE SUN IS RISING

AND SUN IS BEAMING
THROUGH THESE EMERALD LEAVES,

I MEAN THAT, TO ME, IS LIKE...
IT'S AMAZING!

AND THAT'S KIND OF LIKE...
I GUESS THAT'S MY FIGONA, UM...

AND I'M ALL TEARY NOW!

BUT IT'S WHAT KEEPS ME
KIND OF GOING BACK.

AL UY'S DISCOVERIES IN THE SOLOMON ISLANDS

HAVE BROUGHT US CLOSER
TO UNDERSTANDING

WHAT DARWIN CALLED
"THE MYSTERY OF MYSTERIES."

HERE, ON THESE DISTANT ISLANDS
OF CREATION,

THE EVOLUTIONARY PROCESS

UNDERLYING ALL THE BIOLOGICAL
DIVERSITY ON THE PLANET

IS STILL EVIDENT.

IT'S A PROCESS
WE'RE A PART OF...

ONE THAT LED TO THE BIRTH
OF OUR OWN SPECIES

MILLIONS OF YEARS AGO...

AND ONE THAT CONNECTS US
BY A COMMON ANCESTOR

TO ALL THINGS LIVING ON EARTH.